Heading into the final month of the SMAAAHL season Yorkton Harvest head coach Dan Cross knew his young team needed a change of fortune after the way his team went into February. Winning just four times over the course of December and January and dropping two straight to open February games against the Regina Pat Canadians and the Tisdale Trojans last week were crucial for the Harvest who in addition to looking for momentum need a handful of points to ensure that the ninth place Notre Dame Hounds can't catch them for the final playoff spot.
Sunday afternoon would see the Harvest host the Pat C's after having the weekend off before facing a Regina team that beat them in a 1-0 overtime thriller at the Farrell Agencies just two weekends prior. In that game the Harvest's Carson Bogdan made 31 saves in a loss while Regina's Logan Flodell took the shutout win facing significantly less traffic in a 21 save performance, both would start again on Sunday giving both teams the confidence that at the least they would have quality goaltending in the battle between seventh and eighth place in the SMAAAHL.
After 60 minutes of scoreless regulation play in their previous meeting the first goal of the game would take just slightly over 14 minutes as the Pat Canadians would strike first blood with an Arthur Miller goal with just over five minutes left in the first period to give Regina a 1-0 lead. The goal would be a backbreaker for Bogdan, who fought valiantly to keep the game scoreless for as long as possible in a period where he saw his team get outshot 12-4 in what would be the story of the game Sunday.
The second period would bring similar traffic to Bogdan's crease and a similar result as the Harvest veteran and Yorkton Terriers third goaltender would show why he has been the workhorse for the Harvest for the past two seasons by keeping the game close despite seeing his team get massively outshot. Chance after chance would come for Regina in another period where they outshot Yorkton 12-4, but they just could not beat Bogdan who would find a way to keep the puck out of the net each time to keep Yorkton within one heading into the third after a scoreless period.
In the third the second goal would finally be scored as the Pat Canadians grabbed the insurance tally less than five minutes in on a goal from Michael Eskra would find its way into the net and after the Harvest mustered just nine shots in the first two periods the two goal lead for Regina seemed insurmountable especially with one of the best goalies in the SMAAAHL in Flodell between the pipes.
After a hard fought final ten minutes the Harvest would break the ice and score as Chase McKersie would score from the hashmark over Flodell's shoulder and into the corner of the net to give his team some life with 2:03 left on the clock. That temporary momentum would spur a flurry in the Pat Canadians zone that was denied by an empty net goal that came as four Harvest players couldn't pinch the puck from leaving the Regina zone, leaving Jayden Halbgewachs wide open for the bonus goal to make it a 3-1 final.
Yorkton would finish the game with just 17 shots and save for a flurry in the second period where they hit the posts twice there weren't many moments in which the hosts controlled the puck in their opponent's zone. Something that head coach Dan Cross said contributed to their inability to score goals against the talented Flodell, who is in line to move up the Seattle Thunderbirds system in the WHL next season.
"We had some chances in the second where we hit the crossbar and McKersie scored one late, but with the way things have went lately our guys have been squeezing the sticks wanting so badly to create momentum and when you add a goalie like Flodell into the mix the guys put a lot of pressure on themselves to score which might have hurt their confidence when the goals didn't come," says Cross.
After his goalie's 39 save effort Cross made sure to give credit to Bogdan, who has stepped up his play as of late with rookie Carter Phair out of the lineup. "We didn't do the best job keeping traffic out of our own zone today and Bogdan kept us in the game and he has just been incredible lately by doing more than what we can even ask for," says Cross.
As for what he thinks could turn around the Harvest's fortunes heading into the final stretch of the season, Cross hinted that a win needed to come soon. "The way things have gone for us it feels that our guys just need one game where we can fill the net to get things going for us because it is frustrating to lose and it is even more frustrating when you struggle to score so if we can just get one win to build on I think we will can get things going."
Tuesday night's visit to Tisdale to take on the Trojans would provide that opportunity once again for the Harvest as they would be taking on a fifth place team that would give the Harvest not only a chance to earn a crucial two points to further secure their playoff spot, but the belief that they can compete with the teams that they will be facing come March.
The game got off to a rocky start for the Harvest as a penalty for interference assessed to Turner Ottenbreit would lead to the Trojans first powerplay goal of the game as Tanner Nagel made no mistake to put Tisdale up 1-0. The lead would be short lived however as a Trojans penalty of their own would allow Korwin Shewchuk to nick one back for the Harvest less than two minutes later.
Penalties and special teams would be the theme of the day as the third goal of the game was again scored on the man advantage as Nagel would score his second of the game on a powerplay that was given to Tisdale after a Corwin Stevely tripping call to make it 2-1. Logan Karakochuk would score with just 34 seconds left in the first to make up for the two powerplay goals conceded by the Harvest to send the game back into the dressing room after 20 minutes with four goals scored in a 2-2 stalemate.
After the second period penalties and powerplay goals would continue to come, but for a change they would all be going the way of the Harvest as they took the lead in the second period off the man advantage as Damian Bentz would score his sixth of the season to give the Harvest a 3-2 lead with the only goal of the second period.
The third would bring them similar fortune as one minute into the period Jaden Kreklewich scored on the powerplay for the Harvest's third man advantage goal of the night. It would prove to be the insurance needed as the Harvest would take their two goal lead and run with it all the way to a 4-2 win that snapped their four game losing streak and put the Harvest back to seven points clear of the Hounds for the final SMAAAHL playoff spot.
Next for the Harvest is a weekend set at the Farrell Agencies Arena against the second place Battlefords Stars that will serve as a measuring stick for the underdog Harvest's chances at pulling off a Cinderella run come playoff time. Ten points out of seventh place it is inevitable the Harvest are going to play a top team in the first round and their weekend set could go a long way in giving the team the belief that they can play with anybody. A 4-2 win over the Trojans to start their week off right is as good of a start as any for the Harvest to build momentum heading into the games that matter, next is finding a way to prove to themselves that they can do it against the cream of the SMAAAHL crop.
